10/07/2009

GLENN CLOSE, JUDY SHEPARD, TO APPEAR AT NEW YORK PREMIERE OF LARAMIE PROJECT: TEN YEARS LATER

NPR’S NEDA ULABY TO MODERATE LIVE WEB CAST OF POST SHOW DISCUSSION

New York, NY, September 30, 2009..The groundbreaking epilogue to the Laramie Project, titled THE LARAMIE PROJECT: 10 YEARS LATER, will be performed in New York at Lincoln Center and over 150 other theaters across the country on October 12, 2009. The Lincoln Center premiere will feature a pre-show that will be webcast live to the other productions and include guest host Glenn Close, welcoming remarks by Judy Shepard and a post-production Q and A moderated by National Public Radio Arts and Culture correspondent Neda Ulabay.

“We now have over 150 theaters participating in this historic event and are thrilled to be joined by Judy Shepard, Glenn Close and our other special guests at the NY premiere” said Greg Reiner, Executive Director of the Tectonic Theater Project. “The interest and enthusiasm that the epilogue is receiving is very exciting and demonstrates to us the power the Shepard story still holds for people, as part of our collective history and as a lesson to all about homophobia, what is means to be gay in a small town and how stories must be re-told to ensure that the legacy of these kinds of incidents is correct,” continued Reiner. “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later will engage the audience as did the original, and we expect there will be many who are surprised to learn what Laramie is like a decade after Matt’s murder,” concluded Reiner.

The writers of this play are Tectonic Theater Project members Moisés Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris, and Stephen Belber.

Tickets are still available for the October 12, 2009 New York City event at Alice Tully
Hall, online at:www.lincolncenter.org or by calling 800-721-6500.

Information about tickets to all other events can be found on local links via www.laramieproject.org.

The epilogue focuses on the long-term effects of the murder of Matthew Shepard on the town of Laramie. It explores how the town has changed and how the murder continues to reverberate in the community. The play also includes new interviews with Matthew’s mother Judy Shepard and Mathew’s murderer Aaron McKinney, who’s serving two consecutive life sentences. The writers also conducted many follow-up interviews Laramie residents from the original piece, including, Romaine Patterson, Reggie Fluty, Jedediah Shultz, Father Roger Schmidt, Jonas Slonaker and others.

In tandem with the Premiere, an online interactive community will be launched where participants can blog, upload video and photos and share their stories about the play, experiences in preparing and presenting the Epilogue in their communities. The members of Tectonic Theater Project will be active participants in the online community, offering participants feedback and encouragement.

MORE INFORMATION:

On October 6th of 1998 Matthew Shepard was beaten and left to die tied to a fence in the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. He died 6 days later. His murder became a watershed historical moment in America that highlighted the violence and prejudice lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people face.

A month after the murder, the members of Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie and conducted interviews with the people of the town. From these interviews they wrote the play The Laramie Project, which they later made into a film for HBO. The piece has been seen by more than 50 million people around the country.

Tectonic Theater Project (Moisés Kaufman, Artistic Director, Greg Reiner, Executive Director, Jeffrey LaHoste, Managing Director, Dominick Balletta, General Manager) is an award-winning company whose plays have been performed around the world. Since 1992 TTP has produced innovative works that explore theatrical language and form, fostering an artistic dialogue with our audiences on the social, political and human issues of the day. The company has developed and produced works for theater and film, including: the smash hit Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde; The Laramie Project (one of the most produced plays in the country, as well as an HBO movie written and directed by Kaufman); and I Am My Own Wife (2004 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for best play). Tectonic has garnered numerous awards including the Humanitas Prize, the Obie, the Lucille Lortel Award, The Outer Critics Circle Award, the GLAAD Media Award, the Artistic Integrity Award from the Human Rights Campaign, and the Making a Difference Award from the Matthew Shepard Foundation. The film of The Laramie Project was also honored with four Emmy Nominations, The National Board of Review Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie and a Golden Bear Award from the Berlin Film Festival. In addition to creating theatrical works, Tectonic Theater Project works in residence at Universities around the country and hosts a New York based training lab for theater artists.
As a non-profit laboratory we are grateful for the long term support of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Greenwall Foundation, The Arcus Foundation, The Small Change Foundation, The Educational Foundation of America, Shawn Donnelley, Judy Dimon, and the donors and friends of Tectonic. For more information on the company, visit www.tectonictheaterproject.org.

The International Community Convocation of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, is made possible by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and the support of these Presenting Partners;